Look For The Dragon A TMNT2012 fanfiction
by JusTiNSaNiTy
Summary: "There's a new creature in the city. A dragon." "What should we do Donnie?" "I think the Kraang made this… we need to bring it down and find out what its purpose is." They turn to their leader… little do the three younger brothers know that they're standing right next to the creature they're determined to capture… BASED ON THE 2012 VERSION
1. Prologue

The starlit sky cloaks the city in a blanket of darkness. No clouds are in sight.

I stand on the edge of a building, allowing my body to be silhouetted by the weak glow of the half moon. Few humans roam the streets, however I am fine with this. I don't want anyone to see me. Nights like this are my favourite.

My eyes close slowly. It's time. The familiar rush of heat followed by the chilling flow of coldness enters my senses. My body is changing. Scales. Claws. Ears. Wings. A tail. They all emerge quickly and take their place. My eyes open once again. They have changed too. They are even sharper than they were before. The iris has grown, taking up a little more space in my eyes. The pupil has become narrower, and has lengthened in height a little as well.

Scales now cover my plastron. The lower half of my arms and legs are now covered in scales as well. Sharp claws have taken their place on my fingers. Dragon ears have emerged from the top of my head, few scales surrounding them. Wings have emerged from my shell. The height of the wings are the same height as I am. Many scales surround the two wings. And yes, a tail. I swish it along the ground, choosing to make it a long, slow movement.

I flash a fanged grin to the sky. Some teeth have grown into fangs.

Bunching my legs, I jump, folding my wings tightly, letting myself plummet to the cement ground. A few seconds before it was really necessary, I unfold my wings, floating safely down to land on the ground.

With a smile, I take to the air again. My wings flap in a set rhythm as I soar through the sky. I smile and let out a laugh, reaching up to the stars.

As I fly, a different need begins to build up. I need to be more than halfway between turtle and dragon.

I let myself shift completely, still in flight. My mask and gear melts into my own body. My hands turn into feet. All four feet grow slightly, widening into a dragon leg. My head changing to grow a muzzle. My iris completely covers my eyes, my pupils touching both the top and bottom eyelids. My wings grow a little more. My tails grows a little bit more as well.

I continue smiling as I let out a happy roar, my black and dark blue scales looking as if they're glowing under the light of the moon.

Sometimes, if I stay out long enough, the humans living in the city will chat, discussing where and what the dragons roar may be coming from. " _A dragon in New York? Don't be so silly. They're nothing but mythical characters,"_ they will tell each other. I can't help but let a small growl escape my lips at these comments.

I am no made up creature.

I keep myself airborne for a few more minutes before touching down on a building. With a quick glance behind me, I disappear into the alleyway below. I don't notice someone else watching me.

Whoever had been watching me turns and leaves using the rooftops.

I notice there is someone else standing in the alley. Kraang. The aliens that have tried to take over my planet. I let out a roar and attack. Within a few seconds, I have taken them out. The element of surprise helped greatly in my little surprise attack. Quickly, I let fire erupt from my mouth, burning the robots to a crisp as the little pink aliens that had been controlling them run. As soon as the last turns the corner, I let water come from my mouth and put out the fire.

Ice remains unused.

Satisfied, I shift again. Not halfway between two species, but right back to a mutant turtle. Only a few seconds pass before I have finished shifting.

The moon continues to light up my dark emerald green skin. The familiar feeling of my mask and gear has returned. My blue eyes gaze around the dark alley. The tails of my blue mask flutter a little in the light breeze disturbing this part of the city.

My name? Hamato Leonardo.


	2. The Beast Is Me

Peace. That is what currently holds my family's home. While I am sure that this peace will not last very long, I am grateful for the silence. I need to pull my thoughts, feelings and instincts together.

The dragon instincts, they have become so much stronger. So much harder to contain, keep hidden.

Recently added to my pile of worries is the realization that I didn't make sure nobody was around before slipping into the alley where the Kraang were last night. I did glance behind me, yes, but I had forgotten to check anywhere else. The worry that someone may have seen me is constantly lingering in the back of my thoughts, however all I can do now is wait and hope that I have remained hidden from anything and everything.

" _MIKEY!"_

I sigh as Raphael's yell breaks the peaceful silence in the lair. The shout is followed by thumping footsteps, a few yelps among other sounds. The soft, familiar hum of Donnie muttering things to himself can once again be heard through the wall. My heightened senses allow me to realise that his mutterings are urgent, and I can make out April's soft voice as well. At times, I thank my dragon side for my heightened senses, but at others, I wish that I could make them all temporarily disappear.

My bed creaks slightly as I stand with another sigh passing my lips. _Maybe I'll just go to the dojo and meditate,_ I suggest to myself. _Meditating usually helps with the dragon instincts._

Deciding that it's a good idea, I head for the door, turning the handle slowly. I step through the doorway, leaving the comfort of my room.

Spotting a good route, I dart into the shadows. I don't care that it's a rather long route, I don't want anyone to see me, especially with these dragon instincts stronger than they were before.

A sudden rush of coldness invades the lair, making me shake my head sharply to rid myself of the odd feeling in a few areas of my face and neck. Looking over to the couch, I can see Raph sitting reading a random comic that someone had left lying around. Michelangelo is watching TV, however it appears that his mind is only half focused on the show displayed on the screen. Their little argument and fight must have ended rather quickly. I don't observe them any longer, deciding gathering any more details isn't worth the trouble.

I'm about to pass the door to the lab when the door starts to slide open. Stepping back, I stand still, willing Donnie, or April, to not notice me. Donatello runs out, April right behind the intelligent turtle. In one hand, Donatello is holding his T-phone, in the other, a small notebook. April has her laptop clutched in her hands.

"Guys!" April exclaims. "You need to hear this," she continues, sitting a small distance away from Raphael. Once she has sat down, she opens the lid of her laptop. Donnie sits down beside her. With a press on one of his T-phone's buttons, the screen is instantly back to life. He opens his notebook, turning the pages until he reaches a particular page.

Michelangelo sits down next to Raphael, peering at the two screens and the paper in Donatello's notebook.

I sigh yet again. _Get yourself together, Leonardo!_ I order himself mentally. Quickly, I head over, seating myself next to Donatello. "What is it?" I ask them.

"April saw something odd last night," Donatello answers. I instantly feel weighed down with dread. _Please, no,_ I think.

"Well then," I force myself to say. "April, what did you see?" I ask her.

April starts with, "This will sound crazy, but it's real," she begins. My feelings of dread start to worsen. I want her to say something else, like a giant mutant shadow-if that's even possible-but I have a feeling I know what it is.

"Last night, I could see a dragon," she announces.

Michelangelo and Raphael gasp, however I just widen my eyes. She has seen me. She has _seen me._

"What did it look like?" I ask, even though I know the answer.

"It was pretty big," she replies. "If it was standing upright, minus the tail, it would probably be a little taller than Master Splinter. It was slender, but I could see it had muscles… it had blue eyes, like yours, Leo. It had black and dark blue scales, and gosh, it may only have a few fangs, but they are sharp!" She digs out her phone from her pocket and turns it on, pressing a few buttons. "Here's a picture I took of it."

I feel like I can't breathe under the pressure of the dread for a second. I'm such an idiot. I let down my guard and let someone see me.

"So," Michelangelo beings to recap. "There's a new creature in the city. A dragon."

Donatello nods. "Yes."

"What should we do, Donnie?" Raphael asked.

"Well, according to my notes and tests that I made when April showed me where she's last seen it," Donnie begins. "I think the Kraang made this… we need to bring it down and find out what its purpose is," he continues. "No matter what, we capture the dragon." Turning to me, he asked, "Leo? What's the plan?"

I think quickly. "We track the beast down. Put it to sleep and get it back here… Donnie, do whatever you need to to… and… I'll come up with the rest when I see what's actually going on," I finish. Panic is quickly seeping into both mind and voice.

Mikey stands up and whoops. "Sweet! Let's get this beast! Oooh! Let's name it-

Before he can finish, I stand up too. "Get some rest, guys. Raph, can you call Casey?" I ask. When Raph nods, I finish with, "We're going to get as much information about the dragon as we can."

We all head in our separate ways. I head straight for my room, sinking down onto my bed, burying my face into my hands. "Never did I ever," I whisper sadly, "Think I'd ever be in danger from my own family and friends."


	3. Please Don't Tell

**Sorry for not getting these chapters back up sooner. loves bailing on me.**

I open my eyes slowly. Everything is quiet. Trying to push away the sleepiness from my thoughts, I look at the clock on the opposite side of the room. 6:03 stares back at me in the darkness.

 _When did I fall asleep?_ I wonder. I also wonder how I even fell asleep in the first place-last night was spent pacing around my room and occasionally sitting down on my bed, planning and pondering over how to keep my secret safe now they knew a dragon was in the city. Now they knew my dragon side was in the city.

I regret asking to become leader now. Being leader makes the task of keeping this secret hidden twice as hard as it already was. When I asked if I could be leader, I regretted it instantly. I felt dread when I was chosen, but as time went on, I found that I could still be a leader and hide the dragon. Hope had swelled in my chest, but what happened yesterday has squashed all the hope I had.

Inhaling quickly, I move my hand to turn on my lamp. Only then do I realise I'm in my bed, under the duvet, my hand clutching some of the fabric, pulling it tight around me. I didn't get into bed myself. My face turns red when I realise that Master Splinter must have put me to bed. Embarrassment quickly dominates my other feelings briefly as I imagine him finding me out cold, slumped on my mattress or in a heap on the floor.

I let out a deep, throaty growl as I shake my head, ridding myself of the feeling and thoughts. I've far more important things to be thinking about.

Sighing, I turn the lamp on. The lamp isn't too necessary, since being part dragon allows me to see well in the darkness, but I do it anyway. I throw the duvet off myself and sit up, stretching. A dragon like whine of happiness escapes my lips, and I immediately throw my head back with a groan. I didn't let my dragon side out yesterday.

It probably doesn't sound too important, however to my secret, it's very important. Letting my dragon side out each day is crucial to helping keep my dragon instincts in check. I'll be fine for now, only just mind you, but I need to let it out sometime today or I'm going to be busted.

Quickly, I put on my elbow and knee pads, wrappings, the rest of my gear, and finally I tie my mask onto my face. I don't care that it's a little to the side-that problem is one that can be easily fixed. Unlike the problem I've been stuck in for the past nine hours.

I turn the lamp off before walking to the door. I turn the door handle slowly, and then ease it open. Quickly, I step outside and shut the door behind me.

 _What should I do,_ I ask myself. I can probably get in around half an hour of time topside before it gets too dangerous. Or I could join Master Splinter with meditating, since he usually gets up around now and meditates until training.

I quickly decide on the first option. The sooner I let my dragon side loose, the better.

I stealthily slip through the lair using the shadows, just in case.

 _A few more steps, a few more steps,_ I think as I get closer to the turnstiles at the entrance of the lair. _And…_

"Leonardo?"

 _Dang it._

I turn quickly. "Umm, hi Sensei…" I say awkwardly.

"So, you are all tracking down a dragon," Master Splinter starts.

"Yeah… we are.." I reply. Before Master Splinter replies, an itch suddenly can be felt on my left arm. My dragon instincts make me instantly scratch the irritating spot. A deep rumble of satisfaction escapes before I can stop it. My eyes stretch wide and I slap my hands over my mouth.

 _No, no no no no…_ I think to myself. _Please no… not now… I've managed to hide it for so long… and now the guys are hunting me down too…_

Master Splinter opens his mouth to speak as I think, _I am so screwed…_

"Leonardo," he begins. "What is going on?" I gulp as he adds on, "And tell me the truth."

"N-nothing, sensei… sorry. I'll just-"

"Leonardo!" Splinter cuts me off before I can run back to the safety of my bedroom.

I sigh softly. There's no way I can escape the situation, and sensei won't let me leave until I tell him. He can see through pretty much any lie one of us may try to make.

"Promise you won't tell the guys?" I ask softly, panic and nervousness lacing my tone. "They won't hesitate to capture me."

Master Splinter places his hand on my shoulder. "My son, they are your brothers. They would not capture you-"

"But they will!" I cut him off. "Sorry," I murmur before continuing. "But Donnie told everyone that no matter what, they capture the dragon that April had seen. I know that he means it. _No matter what._ "

My voice shook with nervousness as I finished with, "Sensei, _I_ am the dragon."

I can tell from Master Splinter's expression that he's shocked.

I know that there's no use hiding my form from him, and I have a feeling that he'll need to see it to really know.

"How have I managed to keep it from you?" I ask softly as I begin to change.

Master Splinter's eyes grow wider as my eyes change. Then the claws. Then the ears. Then the fangs. Then the tail, and finally, the wings. I can't help but let out a low rumble of laughter at Master Splinter's face. His expression is currently priceless.

"You can't tell them," I repeat. "Please. You just can't."

"Dude! Leo, what the heck?"

I turn quickly as someone else enters the scene. Standing at the entrance to the lair is none other than Casey Jones.

"You're a _dragon!?"_


	4. Casey And A Dragon

"You're a _dragon!?"_

I growl in fear. _Oh no._ Now Master Splinter and Casey knows my secret. And I'm pretty sure Casey isn't the best at keeping secrets.

"Isn't that obvious?" I retort, a little quietly, throwing my clawed hands in the air.

Casey grins. "That is so awesome!" He exclaims, stepping through the turnstiles. "The guys-"

"Casey!" I interrupt. "Nobody here is telling the guys," I say, a little too calm. "They won't hesitate to capture me."

Casey nods a little. "Okay then, well-woah!" He yelps as I leap, transforming into a full dragon in mid-air. Only a small flap of my wings is needed to keep me airborne before I land on him. Casey tries to break free, but my paw easily holds him down. My eyes glimmer with amusement. "That was actually rather amusing," I note out loud. My voice in the dragon form is a little scratchy and much deeper than my normal voice.

"Wait, the dragon can talk too? Oh, what else," he groans.

I step back, letting him up before tilting my head upwards, letting fire erupt from my mouth into the air. The fire is quickly followed my ice. I look back down at Casey's shocked face. To finish, I let out a bit of water, soaking his shoes, before shrinking back to halfway between the two species.

I look between Casey and Master Splinter's faces and can't help but burst out laughing. It does take a little while to calm down, however.

"Okay," I say eventually. "I think I'm good now…"

Casey shrugs, walking up to me before bending down, looking at my tail. "Wow, Leo, I bet you could beat Splinter in a tail wrestling contest," he says. "Seriously dude, look at that thing!"

I raise a non-existent eyebrow. "Casey, it may be rather… strong, quick and agile," I say, "But this is Splinter that we're talking about here."

Casey picks up my tail, much to my annoyance. "You s-"

I quickly use my tail to slap him across the face lightly before resting the tail in my own hands. "Sorry," I say. "Not used to this. At all," I add on as I run my hands down the scales.

Master Splinter steps forward. "My son," he starts. "You have a very special ability… how did you gain this dragon side?"

I shrug. "I have no idea. All I know is that I've had it for as long as I could remember."

Master Splinter nods slowly.

"I… Sensei, I need to get out," I say slowly.

Casey and Master Splinter both look at me with expressions, however I can't tell what the expressions mean.

"I mean, I just need to get topside and let my dragon side loose," I quickly explain. "Otherwise the dragon instincts just build up until it's impossible to hide them."

Master Splinter nods. "Very well. Go, quickly. You have very little time before it is too dangerous to stay, however."

I bow and say, "Hai, Sensei." I turn to leave the lair.

"I'm coming with you," Casey says. I turn and sigh.

"Really, Casey?"

Casey nods. "I just found out that one of my best friends is half mutant turtle, half dragon and can shapeshift between the two species! I-"

"Okay," I interrupt. "I think I get it."

With a flick of my ears, I disappear into the shadows of the sewers.


	5. Casey Is A Douche

When Casey and I finally reach a manhole cover, I practically punch it off. I am desperate to get out.

My dragon side desperately wants freedom.

As soon as I leave the sewers, I spread my wings and take flight, quickly moving to the top of the building next to us, leaving Casey to scramble up the side of the building by himself.

However, me leaving him to do the task himself doesn't dampen his excitement. I sigh.

 _This might be a long hour or two,_ I note.

As I expected, he continues to ramble on about how cool this is. _I get it,_ I want to say. _I'm a dragon shapeshifter. With element abilities from my mouth._

"Really, Leo!" He says. My ears twitch.

"This is so metal! It's cooler that April having psychic abilities!" He continues.

I turn to him, non-existent eyebrow raised. "Really Casey? These are _psychic_ powers we're talking about here."

"You can shift into three forms!" Casey exclaims. " _Three!_ And you have powers too!"

"You mean traditional dragon element breathing abilities from legends and stories." I retort.

"Nuh-uh. Powers." He insists.

"Ugh, fine. But seriously. When she gets the powers right, she'll be able to crush me."

"You'll be able to escape it."

I sigh heavily. He can be so stubborn when he's set on an opinion sometimes.

"Let's just keep moving," I sigh.

My tail shifts a little before I take off, Casey right behind me.

I smile at the feeling of the wind rushing past my face.

"So you have managed to keep this secret hidden for every year of your life?" Casey asks.

I smile. "Heheh, yes. Yes I have. Hasn't always been easy."

Casey continues to ask questions and I continue to provide answers-mainly so he won't pelt me with them again later.

Everything is all well and good until I hear Casey let out a laugh that is barely audible to normal ears.

"Hey Leo," Casey says. I flap my wings a few times so I can simple fly instead of running while I look at him.

"Yes?"

"What would you say to outsourcing some of the dragon-slaying?"

I turn around so I don't show him my discomfort as I frown, growling quietly. I simply don't answer. To my surprise, Casey doesn't push for an answer. I smirk. Maybe he made the wrong decision there for once.

With a strong flap of my wings, I flew over a gap between buildings before folding my wings, letting myself fall to the rooftop before starting to run like a normal ninja again.

After a few moments, I hear Casey's voice again.

"Hey Leo? Uhh… could I maybe have a ride? I mean, it would be cool to see the city in the ways you can."

I smirk, a plan instantly forming in my mind.

"Why not," I answer, swiftly transforming into the body of a full dragon. Casey is a little surprised at first, before he decided to just climb on.

Once Casey is on my back, I take off, flying at high speeds towards the sky. Casey whoops, excited, although he's gripping my scales for dear life.

My wings fold and I plummet to the ground. A few dragon-tail lengths from a rooftop, I unfold my wings, flapping a few times before doing a barrel roll. Quickly, I take off into high in the sky again.

I know Casey well enough to tell that he's going to let go when he starts whooping again.

Waiting for the perfect moment, I wait for Casey to lift his arms into the air before flipping myself upside down.

Casey shrieks as he realises I've turned upside down, and then plummets to the ground before he can react, while I rumble in laughter, using the shadows of the night to dive after him and not have anyone notice as I shift into my half turtle half dragon form.

He falls right into an alleyway. I time it perfectly, using a strong flap of my wings to push him into a dumpster half full of trash.

Flying to the lid, barely containing my laughter, I say, "You, my good sir, are a douche…"

Quickly, I use my tail to flip the lid shut. I then crouch beside it, laughing quietly.

Casey struggles out of the dumpster. "Seriously Leo?"

I step out of my small hiding place. "You said, 'what would you say to outsourcing some of the dragon-slaying'," I point out, smiling a little at his face.

He groans. "Okay, okay."

I shrug and then look at the manhole cover, shifting to a normal mutant turtle. "Let's go back," I say. "If I don't get back to the lair soon, the others are going to wonder where I am."


	6. Stress And Search

When Casey and I walk into the lair, we head towards the kitchen. I can hear Splinter in the dojo as we near the rice paper walls.

Michelangelo and Donatello are the only other turtles in the kitchen when Casey walks in. Straining my heightened senses as far as they can go in my normal form, I can hear Raphael's footsteps somewhere around the bedrooms. April's footsteps join his after a few seconds-she's stayed overnight as some kind of sleepover-and she wants to join in on the whole morning training.

I step into the kitchen, where Casey and Michelangelo have engaged in a conversation. Michelangelo is a little groggy, but he's still his usual bright and bubbly self. Donatello is hunched over a cup of coffee, lifting the edge of said cup up to his lips.

Casey and I seem to be the only ones relatively awake-although Michelangelo is pretty close to it.

Raphael enters through the curtain. He says a few words, although I tune him out as best I can. I watch April enter the kitchen, shivering a little at the memory of her announcing she saw me.

I purse my lips, worried again.

When we are all seated, Michelangelo begins humming while delivering plates in-front of each of his 'customers', placing the final one in-front of himself.

He begins to announce the name of the meal, which is actually pancakes (something I'm a little surprised about) dramatically, but he's cut off when Raphael cuffs him over the head.

"We don't need the name of the meal, genius," he snaps at his younger brother. "We can tell perfectly well what pancakes are."

Michelangelo looks down before cutting off a large slice from one of his pancakes, licking off a bit of the maple syrup first before shoving it all in his mouth.

I look down and cut a smaller, more appropriate size off one of my pancakes, using my knife to take off some of the maple syrup before taking it off the fork with my teeth.

Near silence fills the kitchen for a few moments, except for a few short exchanges and Michelangelo munching on his food loudly.

"So Leo," Donatello breaks the silence. "Have you thought of a plan to track down the dragon? I want it roaming around New York for as little time as possible."

I look up, willing myself not to appear panicked. "Well, I was thinking," I start, a 'plan' for both how to track me down and how to avoid being discovered forming.

"We split up, either teams or single. We take some darts, ah, use our phones to communicate and hopefully bring it down," I decide.

"Sounds good," Donatello says, his coffee now finished along with one and a half pancakes. "But," he continues, "I recommend going in pairs. We don't know how dangerous this dragon could be. Just in case."

"Okay," I shrug. "Choose your pairs now… so we can just go immediately tonight."

Raphael takes Casey by the arm, and the two fist-bump. I can't help but sigh. Since Splinter doesn't go on our missions with us, Casey is the only one who knows and goes with us. Since Casey is with someone else as a partner now, I have a feeling this search is going to be a little complicated.

Donatello takes April, leaving Michelangelo my only option.

Breakfast continues, knowing who our pairings are. Thankfully, much to my relief, the topic of the dragon, me, isn't taken up again. Training is normal. Mostly. It takes a small while for Splinter to act completely normal around me. The fact Casey is training with us takes away how obvious Splinter's subtle actions are, although he's also acting differently. It's a no win situation. The rest of the day passes slowly. TV, games with Michelangelo and Raphael, checking on Donatello in his lab, talking to Casey discreetly (Mainly about the dragon issue, surprise surprise), and having the occasional chat with April. I talk to Splinter in the dojo as well, and also stay in my room for a few hours to meditate.

When patrol comes, we get our gear, darts provided to us by Donnie of course, and divide into our pairs before heading to different areas in the city above.

Michelangelo bombards everyone with questions. I know the answers to most, but for the majority of them, I keep quiet so I don't risk losing my cover.

We all keep the speakers on for our group phone call chat, just in-case. Because of this, I know Casey isn't dropping any hints about me-intentionally or accidentally. This calms me down a little.

Sure, I give a few excuses to Michelangelo and come into his, Donatello's and April's sight briefly to avoid any risk of suspicion, but other than that… nothing happens.

When we arrived at the lair, everyone went to their rooms, or in April and Casey's case, headed out of the lair to their apartments.

I made sure nobody was looking before I grabbed Casey's arm. "Tomorrow," I muttered, "We'll need to talk."

Now the others are determined to capture me, we need to talk about some plans of action.


	7. Plans Of Action

Casey arrives with April around an hour after training. April, after a quick hello to Donatello, heads in the direction of the dojo, determined to catch up with the amount of training she's missed in the morning.

I wait for the perfect moment to talk to Casey in secret-although, Raphael has dragged him into conversation, so it might take a while. So I am relieved when I hear Michelangelo heading over and asking, "Hey, Raph! Wanna play a game… I bet you're looking for revenge from yesterday!"

I shake my head, smiling, as Raphael retorts, "In case you don't remember, I kicked your butt. How about I drill it into your brain?" He smirks, standing, about to head to the two set up controllers by the TV. He turns to Casey and mutters , "I'll be back when I hand his shell to him," before walking away.

Casey shrugs and replies, "Casey Jones will just do something else himself," before standing up.

He looks around before noticing me. I beckon him over and he walks to me, making sure we're in a shadow large enough to hide both of us.

"So, what did we need to talk about," he says in a hushed voice, glancing to the lab door, the dojo and to Michelangelo and Raphael's game. They're yelling and laughing at each other, not taking any notice in what we're talking about. Even so, we remain cautious.

I'm glad Casey's being cautious. I'm also actually surprised he's being cautious.

To answer his question, I say, "We need to think of some plans. The others are bound to become suspicious that we're hiding something sooner or later. If we think of some plans, when this happens we can reduce the risk of the dragon side being discovered."

"What about Splinter?" Casey asks. "He knows too."

I raise a non-existent eyebrow. "You really think Splinter doesn't know how to keep a secret?"

"Well… no…"

"Exactly…" I sigh. "Casey, you have to promise that no matter what, if they capture me in my dragon form, you don't interfere unless we both agree… or you'll probably get yourself in trouble," I tell him.

Casey nods.

"And don't drop any hints, big or small," I continue. "It risks us both being found out."

Casey nods again, pointing at himself and announcing, "Casey Jones won't tell a soul."

A sighed, "Good," is my only reply for the time being.

"Leo?" Casey asks. "What do you think we should do if the others find out your secret?"

"When," I correct. "When… I wish it wasn't going to happen, but now, sooner or later, they're going to find out. I don't know what their reactions will be, what they'll think, anything. I just don't know, Casey."

Casey nods. Again.

"And now they're going on patrols to hunt me down…" I started speaking again. "I'm going to need to give excuses if I'm with anyone else and shift so I can get in a few of the guy's sight… I'm worried I'll raise suspicions otherwise. But, of course, there are risks… I could be darted. If that happens, we go back to number one-don't intervene unless I can't figure a way out of the situation."

"They'd take you to Donnie's lab once they catch you in your dragon form, right?" Casey thinks out loud.

I shrug. "Probably. If that happens… sooner or later I should be able to escape."

"Awwww man! Sub-Zero never fails me! Never!" Michelangelo's wail turns the two teen's attention back to where the youngest and second eldest are battling it out on a screen.

"He's failed you for the past three days," Raphael retorts.

"Burn," Casey whispers, smirking.

Still in the shadows, I start shifting. I keep the transformation nice and slow so I don't fully go halfway-just enough so there's a few bumps on my shell and head where my wings and ears are, and tiny, hardly noticeable claws on my fingers and toes. Still in this situation, I breathe out a tiny flame-the maximum amount I'm able to breath out while in this stage of transformation-before going back to normal.

I think it is funny.

"Now I can rub it in ya face," Raphael smirks, crossing his arms. "Remember the bet? When we go looking for the dragon tonight, you have to go with me."

While I am still a little amused at their antics, his second sentence wipes the smile from my face completely.

Casey notices and grins, trying his best to be encouraging. "Come on dude-we have some plans… unless things are really serious, it'll all be fine." He steps out of the shadows. "Now I better get back."

He heads back over to Raphael. A small smile tries to tug the corners of my mouth, however my mouth stays in a set line as I look to the lair's entrance.


	8. Another Secret To Keep

A week has passed. Each day, I do my best to act normal, but with each passing day, hiding my dragon side is becoming more and more difficult-however so far, Casey and I have not slipped up.

I'm impressed.

But the guys have noticed something… they think I'm acting odd.

And they're right, although I have been trying to keep my actions normal, I'm acting a little worried all the time, especially when the guys are hunting me down, or when the topic of the dragon is taken up. Add the fact I still have to control my dragon instincts to this pile, and it's pretty hard to keep acting normal.

Donatello has asked me if I'm okay a few times. Each time, I simply reply, "I'm fine, thanks Donnie," and change the direction I'm heading to my bedroom or the dojo.

Today, he asks again as we're all about to go to bed after another hunt for the dragon. Once again, I say the same four words and swiftly walk to my bedroom.

But this time, Donatello speaks up about it. Once my door has closed, he turns to the others and says, "Guys. You've noticed something's up with Leo, right?"

Casey tenses at this, but remembering his conversation with me from a week ago, he stays silent and nods along with the others.

"Something is up with him," April mutters.

"April," Raphael says. "Maybe you could reach him with your powers?"

Casey tenses a little more.

"It's worth a try," April agrees. "We'll wait until he's asleep and then I'll try reach him."

Casey glances in the direction of my bedroom but remains silent, April and himself texting their parents to let them know they'll be back a little later.

When they're all certain I'm asleep, they creep forwards into my room, mainly staying around the door while April proceeds to walk silently over to me. She closes her eyes, placing her hands on the sides of my head.

The others stay silent-although Casey is frowning, mentally debating if he should try and interfere.

I'm not sure what made April's powers not reach me. It is almost like I can see some sort of light, and there's also an invisible shield making the light stop before it reaches me. It grows brighter and brighter… although it still doesn't make progress. Except for one single, raindrop size of light that flies forwards, hitting me and disappearing into my head.

April straightens, opening her eyes. "It isn't working," she announces. "It's like something is stopping my powers from reaching him. I can only sense that something is definitely off about him."

They all walk out of the room, but as April, being the last one out, closes the door, Casey sees something odd and his eyes widen as he starts walking slower.

Once he's certain everyone is out of sight, he runs into my room again and shakes me.

I jolt awake from this. "Casey, what on earth are you-"

"Listen," He says, his voice containing a rare note of urgency. "The guys agree something is off about you, so April tried to reach you with her powers… it didn't work, but they know something's up."

My eyes widen. Oh shell.

"And dude," He continues. "Your katanas were hovering mid-air!"

My eyes widen. "What?"

"Just… follow me," he says quickly.

A few minutes later, I have my gear on and we're approaching Donatello's lab.

"Why are we-"

"Just trust me."

We slip through the slightly opened door, but Casey doesn't stop. We walk over to something covered in a blanket. He grips the edge and pulls it off, revealing the machine underneath.

My eyes widen as I gasp. "The psychic neurotransmitter? Casey, you have got to be kidding me."

"I am not kidding."

"Casey, April's the only one around here with psychic powers!"

Casey raises an eyebrow and points to my katanas. "Flying swords."

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" I ask, stepping forwards.

Casey lifts up a piece of paper. "Do instructions count?" He then picks up the headpiece. "Just put this on."

I take it from his hands, sighing and telling him, "Remember the last time this thing was used? It made April connected to a giant fish-worm-bird thing!"

"Put it on."

I sigh and place it on my head. Casey constantly looks at the piece of paper with instructions written on it as he sets the thing up. He may have Donatello's instructions with him, but I'm still nervous and unsure about this.

"That… that… that, and… there!" Casey exclaims as the machine lights up. A few sparks are seen from the headpiece and I look at what I can see of it nervously.

Casey adjusts some dials on the radio like thing and I can feel a few tingles and shocks running through my body. I remain still.

"I knew it!" Casey exclaims.

My eyes widen. "Please don't be what I think you're saying."

"Come look," Casey tells me, and I, still with the headpiece on, walk over to him, bending down to read from a small screen on the side.

The results are actually readable to people who aren't as smart as Donatello. I look at them and sigh as Casey punches the air. "I was right," he whispers loudly.

Whatever happened while April tried to reach me must have somehow given me some form of psychic powers.

Another secret.

I sigh, looking at the results again. "Well, that's just great."


	9. When The Dragon's Shot Down

I run over the rooftops, Casey a few footsteps behind me. It's another night, which means another patrol, which means another dragon hunt. A Leo hunt. Although they don't know it.

I glance back at him as both our phones project Raphael's voice.

" _No sign of it over here so far,"_ he says.

Michelangelo had lost another bet with Raphael earlier in the day, which meant he had to go with him during the search again. Donatello, of course, had taken April again. That left me and Casey-although I was thankful. Michelangelo is a challenge to get away from, since he doesn't know my secret.

Casey stops, and so do I. We glance at each other, and I nod.

"Woah!" Casey yelps. "Casey Jones can see it! Wait, it's out of view. Not sure which direction it went in."

I smile a little. He's actually good at making up these lies when he wants to be.

"Alright," I add on. "We're going to split up briefly. Don't worry. We won't engage it. Won't we, Casey?" I say, changing my tone a little.

"Casey Jones makes no such promises," Casey says, smirking, not only at the sentence he's just said.

Casey puts his phone away and I begin transforming into my dragon form. In no less than three seconds, I'm nodding a quick 'goodbye' to Casey and taking off into the air.

The city looks so beautiful at night, I must admit. All the lights, the laughs and soft murmurings, the odd lot of decorations around homes and shops. It's all I've even known and I think it's beautiful.

Twisting my body around, I begin to fly in Michelangelo and Raphael's direction. It isn't a very long flight, since I have decided to fly at top speed tonight. I dive down once I can hear them exclaiming they've seen me, skimming the tip of my wing on the rooftop before flying way to Donatello and April. Two darts fly by, and I shiver, glad they didn't embed somewhere that isn't covered in scales-a small part of my tail, all of my wings and half of my ears are the only places that aren't covered in scales.

Again, it doesn't take long to find Donatello and April.

My younger brother and the kunoichi in training are running across the rooftops.

April has one hand on a dart gun while the other is on the side of her head. I hear her murmur, "I think I can sense it."

She glances behind her and sees me.

"There it is!"

I fly a loop-the-loop before flying right past them.

Donatello aims carefully watching my movements, before pulling the trigger.

It flies through the air and successfully hits its target.

Me.

The tip hits my left wing, and I begin to feel a drowsy feeling run through me as I begin to dip and tilt, still in the air.

April and Donatello run towards me, speaking into their phones.

"Guys! Guys, get over here! We darted the dragon!"

I crash land on a rooftop but still stand up shakily. Panicked, my dragon instincts cause me to breathe fire, ice and water at April and Donatello in one breath, switching between the three.

They circle me, aiming their dart guns at me incase I make a run for it-which I can't really do. Sleepiness continues to crash over me, and I fight to stay awake as Raphael and Michelangelo arrive, and then, finally, Casey.

"Where's Leo?" Raph asks.

Oh, I'm right here.

Casey thinks fast and says, "He's going to be here in a few minutes. He's still over in our area from when we split up."

"Okay," Donatello says. "Tell him to just go back to the lair. I think we all got this covered."

"Okay."

"Now we need to hurry," Donatello says. "It'll be out long enough to only get back to the lab…"

Those are the last things I heard before the contents of the dart drags me into sleep.


	10. The Great Escape

I'm not surprised to find myself in Donatello's lab when I wake up.

Donatello stands by the table, several beakers, test tubes, test pots and more scattering the table-although most are empty.

There are a few filled with both clear and red substances-my blood and something else that I have no idea what the name for it is.

I'm certain I'm still in my dragon form. That is a big relief-they haven't found out from that.

I growl with annoyance. They actually caught me.

I can't help but wonder how long I have been out for, so I glance at the clock, realising that I need to escape and shift to a normal mutant turtle within half an hour or the others are going to get suspicious. Due to this, I sigh heavily-although, since I'm in my dragon form, the actual sound that comes from my mouth is a long growl.

This causes everyone in the room except for Casey, who was already looking at me with a frown, to jump and turn in my direction.

"And it's awake," Raphael says sarcastically.

"I think I have enough now as it is," Donatello says. I'm guessing that he's talking about the two substances he's collected from my body. I must have missed part of a conversation. "The Kraang have left earth since we defeated them in 'Dimension X', but this dragon might have been left to do… something for them."

I growl again, making Michelangelo, who was slowly approaching me, jump back. I am not helping the Kraang!

Still growling, I swish my tail along the ground several times before crouching down, curling my wings and tail around myself, leaving only my eyes visible.

The door opens, and Splinter walks in. He notices me lying on the ground and his eyebrows rise a little. He opens his mouth to speak, but I shake my head, pleading inside my head for him not to say anything.

I think he gets the message I'm trying to say, for he does not speak and walks over to April and Donatello. The others, including a hesitant Casey, follows.

I can hear him murmuring something to them, however all my dragon ears pick up is changing voice tones, rising and lowering like waves and the sea.

And then, everyone starts to follow him out the door, me tilting my head in confusion.

"What about the dragon?" Michelangelo asks.

"We chained it to the wall, shell-for-brains," Raphael retorts. I look down to see that Raphael is right. On my front two legs are tight chains.

Casey pauses. I nod for him to leave, whispering, "I can escape by myself," as quietly as my dragon form will allow me.

I wait for the door to slide shut before transforming quickly, going halfway between the species at first.

As soon as my hand is the size of a mutant turtles, I-with a bit of struggling-take my hands out of the chains.

With a flap of my wings, I am on the roof of the lab, using my claws to hang upside down. Checking nobody is coming through the door, I glide to the garage door, slipping underneath the open door.

At once, I transform into a normal mutant turtle, running for the regular entrance to the lair.

I run in, calling, "I'm here!"

Casey has a slightly relieved expression.

Michelangelo walks past the slightly open doors to the lab to greet me, pausing when he sees inside. "Woah, dudes!" He exclaims, non-existent eyebrows raised with surprise. April, Raphael and Donatello run to his side.

Casey and I walk to Michelangelo's side as well, both of us trying to trying to act casual.

"The dragon has escaped!"

Sure, the dragon has escaped, but the person who is the dragon hasn't.


	11. Secret Uncovered

A few hours have passed since I escaped Donatello's lab.

Donatello has been confused about how I got out, looking at the chains, wondering how I could have broken free.

Shifting is the answer.

We all now stand around his lab table-although I am standing away from the group, looking on from a distance. The others don't know I'm there. Casey is watching the TV with a few slices of pizza.

"As well as using samples I got from the dragon while it was unconscious," Donatello starts telling everyone something. "I also managed to hack into some of the Kraang files left behind when they disappeared from Earth. The dragon isn't working for them, but it was created by them."

I can't help but listen curiously. The last sentence has drawn me in-it sounds as if those files know a little something about how my dragon side came into existence.

Donatello continues speaking. "I'm not sure if the Kraang know about the dragon… but I'm going to run some tests on all of this. Hopefully it will tell us something."

We watch on as Donatello begins pouring some stuff into different pots, tubes and beakers. April helps. I don't know what's happening, like the others, so I sit down with my back to the wall beside the stairs leading into the lab. It doesn't allow me to see the happenings inside, but I'm fine with it.

I take out a kunai and, focusing my powers, begin to make it hover just above my palm. Smiling, I stand up, wanting to test my new psychic powers while the others are distracted.

I toss the kunai across the room, stretching my hand out and using my powers to catch it just before it hits the ground.

Still concentrating on the kunai, I use my new powers to pull it back to my hand.

"Well, I have some progress."

I pause as I hear Donatello's voice, waiting for him to continue.

"The dragon hasn't always been a dragon," Donatello announces. I raise my non-existent eyebrow. I haven't always been a dragon? Didn't think I'd confirm that. Ever.

I begin to focus on my powers again, using them to pull one of my katanas from my sheath and into my hand. I smile. This is actually pretty fun.

I start to make the sword spin around, moving around my body in the directions I push it in.

When I sheathe the sword, I look at my palm. I wonder if I can create some kind of forcefield with these powers. it turns out that I can-although it's a very bright one. I keep it small enough to fit in my palm, and look down at the bright force.

"Alright guys," Donatello's voice sounds again. I peer inside.

"The dragon is a mutant-although actually, the person who got mutated was already a mutant," he announces. I can see the others become even more curious. I glance at Casey, who doesn't know what's going on inside the lab.

"Can you figure out who it is?" Raphael asks.

"I should be able to," Donatello announces. My eyes widen.

No. No this can't be happening. Please… break, equipment, or something! Please!

I realise nothing is going wrong and start to creep towards my bedroom, hoping I'll be able to hide out there for a while.

It comes closer with every step. Casey is still watching TV, unaware of what's going on.

Just as I turn the corner, I can hear several gasps, 'WHAT!?'s, and also several murmurings of, 'This can't be!'

All this is cut short by two single words yelled by Raphael, loud enough to fill the whole lair.

"HAMATO LEONARDO!"


	12. One Secret Gone

"HAMATO LEONARDOOOOOOOoooooooo!"

Raphael holds the 'o' until he runs out of breath. He sucks in another large one before yelling, even louder if it's possible, "GET OUT HERE!"

No. Nononononoonnnononononoooooooo… I don't even know what I'm thinking anymore, I can't escape now!

I peek around the corner to see everyone but Casey running around, most likely searching for me. I sense they all don't know what to think. Casey's eyes are wide, and I can tell he's realised what is going on.

My emotions and senses are so mixed up, I don't notice Raphael sneaking up behind me until a hand grabs my shell, dragging me to the couch pit.

I am shocked for a few seconds before twisting out of his grip, flipping to land one tail length away.

Raphael is seething with anger, his shoulders shaking and fists clenched. He draws his fist back, and I wince, waiting for his knuckles to connect with my body. The hit nevers comes, and I look back at Raphael's face to see hurt and… fear?

Now, should this have been during normal circumstances, I would have been amused that Raphael, of all people, was afraid. But this was different-he was scared of me.

And that hurt. It cut deep.

"If I punch you," he asks slowly, "Will you eat me?"

The hurt cuts a little deeper. I want to reassure him that I will never do anything like that, they're my brothers and not even a dragon side can change that, but something is keeping me frozen in place. No matter how hard I try, I just cannot bring myself to speak.

Donatello is walking towards me slowly, fear also brimming in the depths of his russet brown eyes. "How is this possible?" He murmurs softly. I take a step back, fear also beginning to brew in my own deep blue eyes.

April, who is standing near the lab doors suddenly perks up from a realisation. "That was it!" She exclaims, making my now fearful eyes land on her. "That was the force blocking me from your mind!"

Confusion now simmers alongside my fear. _But it was my dragon side you were trying to find out I had,_ I wanted to say. _How could that same form protect me from her powers?_

But, just like with Raphael, I couldn't bring myself to do anything except stare.

Michelangelo's reaction is very much… the opposite to the reactions of my other brothers. He seems awed, happy, excited even.

"This is awesome!" He squeaks. "You're a dragon! A dragon! ThisissocoolamazingIcan'twaitto-" his words run into each other as he tries to leap at me and pull me in a hug, but I, still fearful and utterly confused, sidestep his arms and he crashes onto the ground.

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE!?"

We all snap to attention as Sensei, who has noticed the commotion and left the dojo, walks towards us. Unlike Donatello and Raphael, who's fearful looks in their eyes has faded, my fear and confusion is still clear as day.

Instead, Raphael is angry again. " _Somebody_ has been a dragon this whole time and never told us!"

Sensei, after half a second, realises what has happened.

"Yo Casey," Raphael asked. "What do you think about this?"

Casey grins sheepishly. "Casey Jones has known for a few weeks."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?"

"Splinter busted him and Casey Jones walked in while he was admitting it," Casey announces.

I nod, dipping my chin down sharply, but my dragon instincts are taking over. I'm too fearful, too confused.

April notices first, and despite the small bucket of fear, confusion and who knows what else in her mindset, she walks over to me, even if it is hesitant, and asks, "Leo? Are you alright?"

In an instant, I'm half dragon, half turtle, my blue eyes, still holding the same emotions, narrowed dangerously. My jet black wings and tail curl around me loosely. The jet black ears twitch.

As soon as my form has changed in a split second, everyone but Splinter and Casey yelps or gasps, also jumping back.

I wait a second before unfurling my tail and wings sharply, roaring, small sparks of fire spewing from my mouth.

Yet again, everyone but Splinter or Casey jumps back while yelping or gasping.

My eye twitches a little as I battle with my instincts.

Now, Casey might have only known for a few weeks, but he's getting better at reading my dragon instincts and signs.

And thankfully, in this case, he is able to figure out my fear and confusion.

"Back off guys," he warns. When nobody budges but Splinter, who must have also been able to sense my feelings, he yells, "Casey Jones said back off!"

At that, the others back off, much to my relief. It was beginning to get a little overwhelming.

"You okay dude?" He asks.

I shudder as a sudden chill travels down my body. "I guess."

I look back at April and my brothers. Raphael's arms are tightly crossed over his plastron.

"Leo," he says, hurt. "Why did you never tell us?"

"I…" I say, my voice wavering, nowhere near as strong as it always is. I hate how I sound, but I push on.

"I didn't want to hurt you…"


	13. I Didn't Want To Hurt You

"I didn't want to hurt you…"

"What do you mean?" April asks me. She isn't an animal, but her head is tilted slightly with mingled confusion and curiosity.

"I…" I began to answer, "I heard what Donnie said in the lab, so that fills in some of the story…" I took a deep breath, and knowing they'd ask me what that story I am talking about, I started before they could ask.

"To be honest, I had no idea if I was already part dragon or if it became part of me later in life. Now I know it was the latter," I started. "At the first dragon instincts and sounds, I freaked out. I ran into the tunnels, and that's when I first shifted." I exhale slowly before taking in another breath. "I don't know how I do it. I just can. It comes naturally to me, like walking or breathing… But when I did it for the first time, I was freaked out. I'd never had a tail, wings or even just visible ears before. My eyes and the fangs… everything was staring at me right in the face. I was scared my new two forms would hurt you. So I never revealed them. Over time I knew them better and had better control… but I couldn't bring myself to tell you after hiding the secret for too long. I..."

I breathe in a shaky breath as I look down in a futile attempt to hide the tears threatening to spill from in-between my lids.

"I was scared you'd reject me for what I'd become."

A single tear slides down my cheek, leaving a thin trail of wet, green skin behind. I realise I'm still in my halfway-between form and bite my lip out of faint embarrassment. My fangs draw no blood.

 _Should I add in my new… my new powers?_ I ponder, however this train of thought is cut off when Michelangelo pulls me into a tight hug, ignoring the fact I still have my wings, ears, fangs, claws, tail among other things.

"Bro!" He exclaims. "We could never abandon you! This is epic!"

Hesitantly, I hug him back slightly. "Thanks Mikey…"

"No problemo!" Michelangelo says with a laugh.

Someone else suddenly joins in the hug, and I'm surprised to see Raphael has decided to make it a group hug. Donatello and April soon join in the hug, eventually followed by Sensei. My cheeks burn red in embarrassment, but even so, I hold my hand out towards Casey.

He's family- this hug can't be complete without him.

That sounds cheesy, doesn't it.

Anyway, Casey shrugs and takes my hand, only for me to drag the vigilante into the hug.

And please. _Don't_ think it's cute.

The battle with my instincts earlier, and maybe trying to use my new powers, however, has drained me- I'm very sure I will kick myself for this repeatedly several times later- so I did unfortunately fall asleep.

When I wake up a small while later, I find myself in my room, still halfway between my two forms, curled up tightly in a ball, still wearing my gear.

Darn it. Kick one.

Out of pure habit, I shift into a full turtle before walking out of my room.

When I enter the main living space, Raphael, who is reading a comic, notes, "Hey, the dragon-boy's awake."

I can't help it, I let out a long growl of pure irritation, however as soon as it leaves me, I slap my hands over my mouth.

"Hey, bro!" Michelangelo exclaims. "We know! You don't have to hide it any more, remember?"

I laugh sheepishly as Michelangelo pulls away. "Oh, yeah." I shift back to halfway before asking, "Where are Casey and April?"

"April's in the dojo," Raphael announces. "Casey had ta go home. Hockey practise or somethin'."

I inhale deeply before asking, "Erm… are you… are you really afraid of me?" I look away. "If you are, it's understandable."

"No," is Raphael's curt reply as Michelangelo

I sigh. "You asked if you were going to eat me."

"Maybe a little," Donatello says as he continues to type away on his laptop. "Okay. More than a little, but we are."

My wings and tail curl around me a slight bit as I look down. "Understood." I close my eyes.

The damage has been done. And... I'm not sure if I _can_ fix it.


	14. Talking With A Dragon

Knowing the guys know my secret is… odd, really.

The old habits still have a death grip on me, and trying to break them is an indescribably difficult task.

Whenever someone walks into the room, or whenever I enter another room, I'll always check I'm in my full turtle form, only to panic when I realise I'm not. Quickly, I'll shift, only to remember they know and I can be the creature I am now. Only then will I relax and shift back, until the same thing happens. It's a never ending cycle.

I tend to spend more time in the dojo, either meditating, trying to distract myself with training or talking to Splinter. I'll also be hiding away in my room. Whenever I'm not in one of those places, I'm often seen talking to Casey. It's surprising to everyone else, but I feel much calmer and normal whenever I'm chatting with him. Over the past few weeks we've become closer as friends, and he's so used to my dragon forms now he isn't surprised by anything about it.

Well, either that or I've allowed Donatello to drag me into his lab out of politeness. He's very eager to do some experiments and run several tests. I tolerate them, and he never does anything that reveals my new powers.

Speaking of my new powers, they're quite useful, and also fun. Sometimes, when Casey isn't hanging out at the ice rink, with his family, with April or with Raphael, we go topside together and just do random stuff with them. I also tend to always shift into full dragon at least once and let him on my back while I fly around once or twice each time.

Infact, that's what Casey and I are doing.

I pump my wings another few times to keep our momentum going, before holding them out at their full length again. We're gliding just above the clouds. Casey sits on my neck, which is about the length of one of his legs. I can certainly notice his weight there, but it doesn't bother me. My neck muscles are too strong-in all my forms, in-fact.

Casey's actually gotten used to sitting on me while I twist, turn, dive, glide, and so on, and he doesn't even need a rope to hold on to now. Which is good. I don't need to dive after him and catch him anymore, unless he goes and does a free-fall on purpose- the moron. At least he tells me.

A faint roaring suddenly reaches my ears, rapidly becoming louder as we keep going. I recognise the sound as the roar of an airplane, and dip to the side, into the cover of the clouds, and sure enough, a huge plane passes overhead.

I fold my wings tightly against me and start to dive back down to the city. We leave the clouds, and as we keep falling, the city comes closer and closer, and the little details of it become clearer and clearer, until I finally open my wings again.

I jerk to a halt, before dropping down onto the nearest rooftop. Casey quickly swings one of his legs around to join his other one, and then he jumped onto the rooftop as well.

I shift back to halfway between my two species. Casey and I high-five (Or high-three) quickly before we start to head for the nearest alleyway. It isn't all that far away, and only a couple of jumps between rooftops are required to reach it.

We enter the sewers and head for the lair, and when we do reach it, I manage to remember not to panic and change into full turtle when I enter.

First time for everything, right?


	15. It's A Dinosaur

**Before we begin… yup. I am sending the guys and Dragon-Leo into space! I'm dragging the altered version of Leo through the whole of Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5, in fact. Stay tuned- the episodes you know have been changed. By me. And I am SOOO SORRY for not updating in so long! Life has been hectic. But now it's not so hectic. So here are some updates, YEE!**

I have to say, I'm rather relieved. Around three weeks have passed, and I'm finally able to walk around without being self-conscious of my current form. As well as this, I can walk into other rooms and have people walk into the room I'm in without panicking that I'm not in my full mutant turtle form.

I'm finally managing to loosen the habits that have controlled me for so long.

April, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael are finally acting normal around me again- they don't seem so worried, or even nervous. That and they've been treating me as if they're treading on something easily breakable, mostly because I keep getting overwhelmed sometimes. It's due to someone asking too many questions, rambling excitedly about my dragon side, Donatello wanting to run some tests, and pressuring me or invading my space at the same time… there are more things on the list, but those, along with the constant dragon instincts, is the gist of it. Those things keep overwhelming me, making me break down, no matter how much I don't want to lose control.

Thankfully, I can hold those back and control my emotions again well enough, and I can ensure that I only have the overwhelmed breakdowns in the privacy of my room, although the amount of those is lessening.

I'm currently seated in the couch-pit near Donatello.

Michelangelo holds a block-shaped item in his hand, either a VHS or a DV. A smile tugs harshly at his lips as he kneels in front of the TV.

"Yes, the final episode!" He exclaims happily, a grin tugging harshly at his mouth. He inserts the thing he's holding into the TV player before running back to the seats, seating himself between Donatello and myself.

"Mikey," I start, "Raph is gonna be super ticked if we watch the Crognard finale without him."

"Oh yeah?" Mikey starts to shoot hack, fiddling with the TV remote. "Well, the Crognard finale's gonna be super ticked Raph didn't show up in time to watch it!" He finished with a small wink. He then held the remote out to the TV, hitting a button on the said remote. Music starts playing through the speakers as the final episode started to play. I lean back, interested to know what this last one would be about.

Crognard pulls out something and hits a button and a short beam of light that looked like it's meant to be a sword appeared.

 _Is that meant to be something like a lightsaber?_ I thought.

"Crognard," One of the other characters started. "To do battle with the Dread Dragon Wigglepuss of the Gray Northern Middle Mountains of Moorerless is to court destruction!"

I purse my lips when they said 'dragon'. I start thinking, missing the beginning of Crognard's reply. _So this episode is another one of those 'dragons are bad' things, huh?_

My attention is then back on the show as Crognard finishes his sentence with "... will cleave the Dread Dragon Wigglepuss in two and feast upon its entrails. _Huzzah_!"

 _Oh come on,_ I groan mentally.

The 'Dread Dragon Wigglepuss' entered on the screen- a huge beast with 5 heads, each one a different color from the body, save for the middle head. It pumped its wings as each head roared a little.

 _...That's nothing like a dragon._

Nobody says anything, although Donatello does glance at me once or twice.

'Smooch' says something next before Crognard slashes his sword against the middle dragon's face a few times.

The right side of my mouth twitches a little as a raise a non-existent eyebrow. _Are you kidding me!?_ I exclaimed in my head.

"Huzzah!" Crognard exclaims as the Dread Dragon Wigglepuss turns and flies away… only for it to turn again and eat Crognard whole.

 _What the actual heck,_ I think. _Just… why._

The other characters cover their faces or their mouths, or in Smooch's case, just kept their hands limp in shock as sounds of the dragon chewing on Crognard plays through the speakers.

"SMOOOOOOOOOOOCH!" 'Smooch' wailed just before the screen switched to the Dread Dragon Wigglepuss flying away as cheesy lounge music started playing.

"That's it?" Michelangelo said, breaking the three brother's silence. "After all those adventures he just _bites it_!?" He pauses for a second before finishing with, "What sort of anti-climate ending is that?"

"Anti-climactic," Donatello corrects him, just as my T-phone starts ringing. I pick it up as the purple-clad turtle continued with, "Wow, talk about a bummer ending. Do you think-"

"Woah-hey-sh, sh-sh-sh-ssstch it's Raph!" I exclaim, stumbling over my words, my dragon ears flattening as I pause. "Uh, s-tuh, be cool, be cool. Ahem!" I clear my throat before accepting the call, holding the phone up close to my face. "Ah, hey man, what's, uh, what's goin' down?" I said awkwardly. I then pursed my lips.

' _You jerks didn't watch the Crognard finale while I'm stuck on Shredder patrol, right?'_ Raphael's voice came through the phone's 'receiver'. All the others could hear was the hum of the words coming through, but my heightened senses meant I could clearly hear the words.

I laugh nervously, desperately trying to play it cool. "Us? No, of course not! But I bet if we did watch it we'd have found it incredibly anti-climate," I say, starting to speak faster. "C-climactic," I quickly correct myself before Donatello does it for me.

' _Yeah but you better wait until-'_ Raphael suddenly gasps and no longer speaks. My dragon ears flatten on my head again as I hear the phone dropping through the air before clattering on something metal, most likely a fire escape.

"Raph?" I say, hoping for a response. "Raph?" I repeat when don't get one. I start to panic as I exclaim, "Raphael? Raph, you there!?"

I then hear Raphael's voice somewhere above the phone, the mic barely picking up his voice. Almost immediately after, something steps on the fire escape next to the phone. Said phone is picked up, and the being holding it must have jumped off the fire escape because air rushes past the mic again before the call is stopped.

My tail twitches nervously as I hear Donatello's phone line trilling a little as he calls Raph again.

"He's not picking up," Donatello says. "Maybe he's in trouble." A growl of both annoyance and fear rumbles quietly in my throat. I take a breath before asking, "Anything on your end Mikey?"

"Na-da," Michelangelo begins and my heart begins to sink further before my youngest brother continues. "The 'Crognard' fan sites all say that really was the last episode. What a bust!"

I lean closer to him, frowning a little, as does Donatello. "I meant have you found Raph," I say. "Really though there wasn't like a movie or something after?" I then say, speaking fast again.

' _Raphael is searching the sewers for the dino-man!'_

I gasp and grip my head as Rockwell's voice echoes in my mind. Cracking my eyes open afterward, I see the same must have happened to my brothers.

"Thank you..." Michelangelo started. "... narrator…?"

My ears then twitch as I hear an odd sound approaching the lair. I stand up again, ears still twitching as the sound gets closer. Before I can do anything else, Rockwell floats into the lair, making Slash float in the air at the same time. They both groan a little as Rockwell sets them down on the floor.

"Rockwell!" I say, leaping up in front of them, the others behind me. "What happened!?"

"Did you say 'Dino-Man'?" Donatello then asks. "As in urban legend 'Dino-Man' from the news?"

"He's no legend," Rockwell informs us. "He's real. And he's more powerful than you could ever imagine."

Rockwell then looked up, and of course, the first thing his sight settled on was me, halfway between the two species I am.

"What?" He exclaims, making Slash look up as well, only for him to freeze in surprise as well. "What has happened?"

"Heheh," I laugh nervously. "It's… it's a bit of a story."

"Long story short, it's a recent discovery for Raph, Donnie, April and me, not so recent for Sensei and Casey, and Leo's been half-dragon for, like, _ever_ and he never told us!" Michelangelo exclaims loudly.

I groan quietly. "You were saying? Something about the Dino-Man?" I ask, hoping to get off the dragon topic.

"Well, we tried to stop Raphael from going alone, but-" Rockwell stopped when Slash started to speak.

"That hothead's about to get himself into some hot water," Slash finished.

A little while later, I'm sitting on the spiral platform above the couch pit, watching Michelangelo fiddle with the TV and the last Crognard episode as I fiddle with the end of my tail.

The Dread Dragon Wigglepuss eats Crognard, only for Michelangelo to pause the TV. He then rewinds it so Crognard is standing in the heroic position he was in before he was eaten, before pausing it again.

"Fixed it!" Michelangelo exclaimed gleefully. "See? Now he wins!"

I jump off the platform, flapping my wings to lower myself down to the ground. I land beside Donatello, the purple-clad turtle glancing at me as soon as I land. I glance back at him, exchanging a look. We both then shrug.

Almost immediately afterward, my T-phone starts ringing. I quickly whip it out, checking who the caller was, only for my eyes to widen as I sigh with immense relief. "It's Raph!" I don't hesitate to accept the call.

"Dude, where are you?" I ask. "We've been calling."


	16. Getting Crazy

**I would have gotten this up sooner but (And my wifi/internet X'D) Kept bailing on me. So here. :P By the way, just so you know, after this story is completed, I'll be changing some stuff in the prologue and chapter one to fix some story/plot mistakes.**

We run along the tunnels, railway tracks nearby, each other right by our sides.

Our footfalls make little noise in the tunnel, and we all hear the train coming well before it comes into our sight- right as we reach our destination (I heard the train well before the others did, of course).

We've come here a few times prior to this moment, so I know exactly where our entrance is. I push against a certain spot in the wall, where there are several exposed bricks. A patch of the bricks slides back before moving to the side.

The three of us walk inside, me taking up the front, and Donatello at the rear. My youngest brothers are careful not to tread on my tail, and I ensure that it' out of their way.

"'Bout time!" Raph calls as his greeting while we walk further into the room, stopping just before a rectangular stone arc that leads through into another room.

"Alright, we're here," I reply. "What's this all about?" I sniff the air before he responds, and I can smell someone- something else in the darkness. Quickly, I turn to Raphael, silently demanding an explanation.

Raphael smirked, holding his hand up and moving out of the way. Footsteps start to rock the ground, and a giant… _something_ comes into view. A dinosaur-like creature wearing tattered clothes.

Said dinosaur thing roars and lifts his hand. He clenches it before bringing it down, clearly intending to smash us all into the ground.

Out of instinct, I start to unfold my wings in an attempt to make myself look bigger. I lift my tail off the ground, ears pinning themselves flat on my head as I start growling, steadily increasing volume to a roar as the hand comes closer, my brothers starting to scream-

"Woah, hold up!"

Raphael interrupts, continuing, "False alarm, Zog!"

'Zog' stops just before his hand connects with us. He then takes it away and rests it back by his side.

"Holy chalupa!" Michelangelo exclaims. "The dino-man's real!?"

"And you… _tamed_ him!?" Donatello finished off.

"Sorta," Raphael responds. "He likes smashin' stuff. Isn't that right, soldier?"

Zog growls softly at us, and out of instinct, I do the same before catching myself.

"Hold on, Raph," I then start. "Did you forget the part where he beat down half the mighty mutanimals?"

"Just trust me!" Raphael said without hesitation. "I'll explain on the way." He then points at the darkness where Zog emerged from, ordering, "Go get 'em, soldier!"

Zog then turned and starting marching his way into the next room.

"On the way where!?" Donatello asked, clearly confused.

"The Kraang!" Raph replied, which made my ears pin themselves flat against my head again, my eyes starting to narrow a little.

Raph follows Zog, and we follow our hothead brother.

"Dude, the Kraang are gone!" Michelangelo says, voicing my thoughts (Which were most likely Donatello's too). "We kicked them back to Dimension X, remember?" The youngest turtle then added. "And then we ate pizza and break danced, and I threw up, 'cause-"

"No, man!" Raphael interrupts. "Zog says they're still here, and he can sniff 'em out! Huh, Zog?"

"Zog-" The dino-man starts, only to break off with a cough. "Zog will lead to Kraang! Beacon needed-" He coughed again- "Destruction to the mutators."

"You tell 'em, soldier!" Raphael said eagerly. He then started to explain to us. "Old Zog's spaceship crash-landed a few months back. He's been taking out the Kraang's secret bases ever since. He's on our side!"

My ears twitch. I can't help but feel like something's a little off about this. "And you trust him?" I ask instead.

"Well…" Raphael starts. "We bonded over a mutual love of destruction."

Zog then stops walking. My immediate younger brother and I turn to look at him.

"What's up, Zog?" Raphael calls. "You found something?"

Zog only responds by coughing.

"What's wrong with him?" Donatello asks. "Is he sick?"

"I'm starting to understand his backward talk," Raphael starts. "His people, the Triceratons, need nitrogen to breathe."

"... And the part where he calls you 'Commander Zoraph' and does everything you say?" I press on, the tip of my tail twitching a little.

"Hey, I saw the chance to have an attack dino, and I took it," Raphael retorted. "He needs a leader, and I'm leadin'!"

Zog took a few steps forwards before kneeling. He then brushed his hand over the ground.

My ears twitched again. "I don't know about this."

"Well, he's a mostly rational guy," Raphael responded. "Aren't you Zog?"

Zog turned around. There was a moment of silence before he exclaimed, "Stomp the mutators!" He started marching on the spot, each stomp shaking the ground. He starts going faster and faster, the sides of the tunnel starting to crumble a little as I use my wings to steady myself.

"Man your battle stations!" Zog says. _What Battlestations!?_

"The invasion begins!" Zog continues. _What!?_

"You were saying?" I say, looking at Raphael with a small frown.

Next moment, the floor gives away below us. I use my tail to grab Michelangelo, before grabbing Donatello and Raphael's arms. I then open my wings, lowering us to the ground slowly. Once we're closer to the ground again, I let go of everyone and drop down myself.

The familiar scent of metal and the pink brain shaped blobs we've fought against so many times reaches my nose, and I start snarling.

" _You_ were saying?" Raphael retorts, twirling his sai as I unsheath my swords.

"It is the ones called the turtles." One says in the horribly familiar robotic voice.

"Woah, Zog was right!" I exclaim. "The Kraang are back!"

"Kraang," Another starts. "It is the what is known as a dragon creature Kraang created, which performed the action known as escaping our clutches."

That robot- and the Kraang controlling it- was immediately burnt to a crisp.

"And the one called Tri-Tri-Tri-Tri- _Triceraton_!"

The Kraang who spoke drops his gun and runs off. There's the sound of electronic whirring while the majority of the Kraang-droids start jerking and twitching for a split second before the battle starts raging.

"Kraang! Destroy for Kraang!" One Kraang orders.

"Mikey destroys for Mikey!" Said orange-clad turtle shouts, taking down the robots with his nunchucks.

Even in the heat of the battle, I can't help but smile at my goofball brother's antics.

I slice another Kraang in two, then slice and freeze some more with ice. Quickly, I lift my tail up and bring it down with more force than necessary, crushing any Kraang-droid who had the unfortunate fate of being in its path.

"I don't miss these guys," I say. I then do the exact same routine with another batch, except using fire instead of ice.

"But I do miss doing that!"

A wall then comes crashing down, revealing several Biotroids and the same amount of Kraang coming up behind them.

"Biotroids, engage."

"Me and Zog will take these goons," Raphael announces. "Head down, horns up!"

"MUTATORS!" Zog roars, charging forwards and taking the ape-like things down with ease.

He starts smashing one of them with his foot.

Soon after, they're all deactivated. Donatello stands working on… _something_. A Kraang comes up behind him, gun ready. Before I can warn him, Zog smashes the droid, leaving it in a heap on the floor.

"Hey, thanks, big guy," Donatello says with a small smile.

"Alert the beacon," Zog says. "Send the troops! The Kraang-" He breaks off yet again with a cough- "Have the back-door to space!"

"Uhhh… can we come back to that? I'm about to pinpoint Kraang's secret hideout," Donatello says.

"KRAANG!" Zog roars angrily, bringing his fist down and smashing the touchscreen thing Donatello was working on to bits. Donatello barely got out of the way.

 _Great._

"Or… we could just smash it to pieces and never find out where it is…" Donatello then said. He then turned to the screen next to it, only to have that smashed as well by a Kraang droid.

"And that's for Crognard!" Michelangelo exclaims, right behind me.

"Are you really still mad about the finale?" I ask him.

"AHA!" Raph shouts in Michelangelo's face. "I knew you watched it!"

"Watched it!" Zog echoes for no reason. He brings his hands down on something, making Donatello jump.

"Woah," Michelangelo breathes. "Space hole dudes!"

"I wonder where it leads," Donatello says as Raphael comes up beside him. "Y'know, we should do a test first, in case it's-"

"Get in that fox-hole soldier!" Raphael commands, cutting the second youngest off.

Zog salutes, replying, "Sir!" He runs forward, walking into the portal without hesitation.

Donatello turns and gave Raphael a 'Really?' look.

"What?" Raphael shot at him. "That's what I got him for!" He turns and says, "Good job, Zog!"

"He's not an attack dog, Raph!" Donatello exclaims. "He's a deranged alien we know _nothing_ about."

I nod in agreement.

"What's to know?" Raphael retorts. "We hate Kraang. Zog hates Kraang. Sweet deal!" He then runs into the portal without another word. Michelangelo follows quickly. I walk up beside Donatello. We exchange glances, shrug, and dive in after them.

I must say, I'm rather surprised to land on a rooftop.

 _At least we're still in the city,_ I think.

"What do you got, Zog?" Raphael asks.

Zog coughs before saying, "Mutators are close." He then stands, looking upwards.

"There."

We all follow his gaze and gasp, my ears pinning themselves against my head again.

"The Statue of Liberty… is a _Kraang base_!?" I exclaim.

"Oh no," Donatello murmurs. "The Kraang are using the Statue of Liberty. As a base!" He then exclaims, repeating what I've just said.

"That's just evil," Michelangelo says with a frown.

"The beacon must-" Another cough. "The beacon must go! No choice, rally them!"

"Awesome job, Sergeant Zog!" Raphael says. "You ready to do this?" He then continues.

Zog nods.

A small while later, we're all sneaking up the stairs inside the statue. We stop after another lot of the stair to observe the Kraang working on touchscreen things from afar.

The sight of a beam of light practically identical to the one from their first invasion beaming into the sky from the statue's head playing on the screen is rather unnerving.

"What are they doing?" Michelangelo whispers.

The screen then switches to Dimension X, with several technodromes just underneath the other side of the portal.

"It looks like they're trying to open a portal," Donatello observes. "And if they bring all those technodromes through… we're all basically doomed!"

I growl softly, clenching a fist. "Not on our watch. I've got a plan. Listen close because we've gotta be precise about it."

"Filthy Kraang!" Zog roars, blowing our cover. "Heads up!" He then charges out, destroying a Kraang droid. I sigh.

"Free for all it is."

The other Kraang droid tries to escape. "Tricera-" Zog grabs the droid and starts smashing it on the ground. "No, no."

"Empire to victory!" I then hear, followed by smashing of metal.

"Gotta admit," Raphael exclaims as he passes me, "He's good with his hands!"

Another Kraang then throws something triangular and very much un-Kraang like (It's black and _orange_ ) at Zog. It traps the dinosaur-like alien in an orange bubble.

"Zog!" Raphael shouts. "We gotta help him! I'm coming, Zog!" He continues, rushing down to where he is.

I hesitate for half a second before starting to follow. "I've got a bad feeling- woah!" I'm cut off by the familiar Kraang laser bullets rushing past just in-front of me.

"Almost cracked the encryption," Donatello says. "Then the Kraang can kiss their portal good-bye!"

Michelangelo has got Donatello's back and is destroying any Kraang that comes their way.

Raphael and I stop the Kraang around Zog before they can shoot him through the bubble thing.

He looks at the triangle object that trapped Zog, pulling out a smaller triangle with a cord attached to it accidentally instead.

"Woah, nice," He comments. "Portable dinosaur!" He then pulls out his grappling hook and fires it towards the ceiling. The end embeds itself in said roof.

Before he can do anything else, I interrupt. "Raph, what are you doing!?"

"Me and Zog are going to take the crown," Raphael replies, jumping. This makes the grappling hook start to pull Raphael and Zog upwards. "You guys try and shut the portal down from here."

I keep fighting as Raphael keeps going up, throwing shuriken at Kraang shooting at them on the way.

I can hear Zog saying something, but through the bubble thing and with the distance between us, I can't make out what's being said.

"Portal is down!" Donatello says, seconds after I take down the last Kraang. "No way they're opening that baby up," He finishes as I fly towards them, landing with a quiet thud.

"I still can't believe dino-dude was right about the Kraang!" Michelangelo exclaims.

"And what's this _beacon_ he keeps talking about?" I add on. Before we can say anything else, however, I'm interrupted by my T-phone ringing. I accept the call, And Raphael's voice immediately came through the speaker.

' _Meet us at the crown. Zog found his old gear.'_

"Alright then," I sigh, ending the call. "Let's go meet them there-" The sound of a gunshot (Which wasn't from a regular gun nor the Kraang's), Raphael's surprised cry which was cut off and a small thud then reached my ears, and I can tell the others heard at least the gunshot from the way they perk up and look upwards.

"Let's go!" I say, grabbing their arms. I then start to flap my wings as I fly upwards towards the crown as fast as I can.

As soon as the ledge Raph and Zog were on is below us, we all gasp in horror at the sight of an unconscious Raphael.

"Raph!" We all shout at the same time. I set the others down and we all run towards him.

"Raph?" Donatello repeats once we reach his side. To our immense relief, He then opens his eyes.

"What happened!?" I ask.

"Did you get Kraanged up?" Michelangelo asks as we help him sit up.

"Zog found his old equipment," Raphael started. "And then he… turned on me." He shook his head once. "You were right, Leo."

I smile reassuringly at him. "It happens to the best of us." We all then help him stand up. "Now c'mon."

Only a minute or so later, we're on the roof, split up and following Zog as he holds what must be the 'beacon' he's talking about.

Finally, Raphael speaks.

"Hey, Zog!"

Zog turns to look at the red-clad turtle.

"You're not sore about the whole, you know, Commander Zoraph thing, are you?" Raphael asks.

"No," Zog replies.

"Phew," Raph sighs.

"I expect such treachery from the likes of Earth."

Meanwhile, Michelangelo and Donatello are climbing up the sides of the statue's head. I'm hovering with my wings out of Zog's sight.

"We Triceratons pride ourselves on loyalty and honor," Zog continues. "You Earth-dwellers are full of lies and deceit."

"Hey, who are you calling 'Earth-dweller'?" Michelangelo says. I groan mentally. _There goes our cover… oh well, I guess._

"Look, man, I'm sorry," Raphael starts, walking closer. "But you were being a jerk and I had to chill you out somehow, and-" He then pauses when he notices what's in Zog's hand. "What exactly are you doing with that bomb-looking thing?"

"It's not a bomb, it's a signal beacon," Zog replies.

"Phew," Raphael sighs again.

"To signal the Triceraton Empire's armada, to come and wipe out this Kraang-infested planet."

My ears pin themselves flat against my head. I hear Michelangelo gasp, and Raphael exclaims, "What!?"

Zog then brings his fist down on Raphael, sending him flying. He comes to a stop on one of the spikes of the statue's crown.

I attack him next, flying at high speed towards him. My swords start to strike him as I say, "You can stop the Kraang without destroying the planet, you madman!"

Zog then sends me flying into the air in an uncontrollable spin. I then hear Michelangelo's kusarigama chain, followed by said brother screaming as I start falling down, still spinning. Next thing I know, Michelangelo's weight is brought down onto my chest as Zog uses my youngest brother to drive me into the statue harder. I grab my swords and Michelangelo before they can go flying off the edge.

"Zog!" Donatello starts to try. "Think of what our species could learn from each other."

Zog sends Michelangelo's Kusarigama chain flying at Donatello, and the latter starts spinning his bo-staff in-front of him to try and deflect it. Instead, Zog also charges forwards and pushes him backward. He shouts in surprise before he lands on the statue's shoulder. Zog leaps, landing somewhere up the arm.

"I know everything I need to know about your planet! You let the Kraang run rampant, jeopardizing the safety of the galaxy." He continues climbing up the arm, then reaching the torch. "I see no reason to spare you."

"Cause we're friends, Zog!" Raphael, who'd been waiting on the torch for Zog to reach him, shoots back.

"Friends?" Zog asks, suspicious.

Raphael jumps onto the 'flame' of the torch, before looking back down. "We made a good team," The hothead continued. "We stopped the Kraang together! Don't do this, man!"

He jumps back down from the flame. "Don't do this to our world!"

"Enough!" Zog roars, taking out his gun and beginning to fire, Raphael dodging each one, much to my relief. One of the shots almost gets him, but he jumps, and it hits the flame instead.

Raphael uses his grappling hook again as Zog throws the signal beacon into the air. Raphael follows it. It sends out a large orange ray of light, but Raphael immediately destroyed it with shuriken.

Raphael then lands, only for an enraged Zog to shout, "You fool!"

"I'm sorry I lied to you, Zog," Raphael admits. "But I can't let you invade our world."

"I'll squash you!" Zog roars, charging forwards. Alarmed, Raphael jumps upwards and out of the way. Zog can't stop in time, and charges over the edge.

"Zog!" Raphael exclaims, peering over to see the Triceraton warrior hanging off a curve of the torch.

"Zog, grab my hand!"

Zog looks at Raph, and after a short moment of silence, says, "Long live the Triceraton empire." Not even a moment later, Zog's hold on the torch slips, and he starts to fall to his death.

"No!" Raphael shouts after him. "NO!"

I fly up to join him, landing by his side.

"... Sorry, Raph," I say softly. "But… at least we stopped the Kraang," I try as Michelangelo and Donatello join us.

"And Zog's signal, thank goodness," Donatello adds.

"Yeah," Michelangelo said. "And on the bright side, we don't have to worry about an invasion of space dinosaurs!" he finished with a cheery smile.

"I hope not," Is Raphael's only reply.

I look up to the sky briefly. Knowing our luck, that's not the end of this.


	17. It Didn't Work

Later that night, I'm in the Shellraiser with not only my brothers, but April and Casey. I'm in my full turtle form for now, since I'm driving through the streets, and it would have been uncomfortable to sit with my wing squished against the wall.

April and Casey stand just behind me. Raph has just finished explaining the whole 'Zog' situation to the two human teens.

"Woah, that Triceraton sounds so cool!" Casey exclaims. I can imagine the cocky grin on his face as he speaks. "I wish I could have fought a real, live dino-dude!"

"Yeah, right," Raphael replies immediately. "That dino-dude would have stomped you into a Casey puddle in about five seconds flat."

"Whatever, Raph," Casey shoots back. "Casey Jones eats dinosaur meat for breakfast!"

"Ugh," April starts. "I'm just surprised there are more aliens out there in the universe, other than the Kraang!"

"I hate to break up the conversation guys," Donnie suddenly interrupts, "But someone's been following us for the past five blocks or so."

My head tilts to the side as I look at one of the screens on my right, and I begin to look at the car that has apparently been trailing after us.

"Weird," April says. Her voice is now a little further away from me. "I don't sense anyone at all."

"See for yourself," Donnie replies. I can hear a few more footsteps as both April and Casey move to look at Donnie's screen.

There's the sound of tires squeaking against the road as the small, dark car that's been following us pulls up beside the Shellraiser between a gap in the current traffic.

I look on a different screen as the driver of the car comes into view, while everyone else looks on Donnie's screen.

The driver is wearing a horribly familiar suit (Except it also had sunglasses, for some reason).

"It's a Kraang!" Casey exclaims.

"Stay on him, Leo!" Donatello says immediately, while the Kraang-droid drives the car over the road again and in-front of us. They must have put their foot down, for the car then races forwards. I then do the same, and the Shellraiser races after the black car.

I keep going, often cursing how big the vehicle is in my head before the Kraang drives the car into a dead-end alleyway. When I turn in after them, nobody is there. Not the car, not the Kraang, nothing.

We run outside the Shellraiser quickly, hoping we've missed something. As soon as I step outside the Shellraiser, I shift halfway between my two forms again.

"He's gone!"

April walks in-front of me before turning her head, then seeing something. "Check it out," She says, getting our attention while hurrying forwards to read it.

"Turtles," April starts, reading the words that have been spray painted on the wall. "Three, one, one, seven Bayfront Street. Midnight."

We all then look at what's been spray painted underneath the letters.

"What's that supposed to be," Mikey asks. "His logo?"

"It's a chess piece," I say my realization out loud as I think it, eyes narrowing a little as I lean forwards. "A bishop."

A few hours later, we're standing in Bayfront street by the address the odd Kraang indicated for us to go to.

"For the record, I still think this is a terrible idea, Leo," Raph says beside me. "It's gotta be a trap!"

"Something's up," I shoot back at him. "And I'm gonna find out what."

"Dudes!" Mikey exclaims from above us. He's hanging from a ledge several feet above our heads. "This is the same meat warehouse where we fought Tigerclaw! C'mon, I know a back entrance!" He leaps off the building and starts running, the rest of us following.

Soon after, we're standing on the metal beams that the meat is hanging from. The door creaks open as all six of us sneak along said beams. The sunglasses-wearing Kraang steps through the door, closing it behind us. It then looks around, clearly searching for us.

Casey's shout startles us all. The black haired teenager runs along the metal beams, hockey stick drawn.

"Casey, stop!" I exclaim, but he doesn't listen.

Casey leaps off the beam, shouting "Goongala!" as he goes.

The Kraang steps to the side, easily avoiding the blow, before taking the hockey stick. It then wacks the meat beside himself. It hits Casey hard and sends him flying backward, the raven-haired teenager hitting more hanging bits of meat on his way back.

The Kraang puts the hockey stick behind their back as the rest of us unsheathe our weapons and jump down.

"Do not do this," The Kraang says.

The others rush forwards. I stay where I am and turn to the side. April rushes to Casey, whom I'm standing by.

Soon after we've helped Casey sit up, I look up to see the Kraang beating up my brothers using Casey's hockey stick. It then drops said stick.

I my ears flatten and I growl when the last of my brothers hit the floor. "Mikey!" I exclaim, running out to face the Kraang with my swords unsheathed as I bare my fangs at it.

"I am not here to fight you," The Kraang says.

I immediately respond with, "Too late for that!" Barely a second after, I rush forwards. Our fight takes us into the next room.

I lash out again with my swords, and the Kraang dodges. After that, I try to knock it back with my tail, however, it ducks, before jumping above the stream of fire that bursts from my mouth.

The Kraang lands, and I rush forwards once more, both swords ready, however, the Kraang catches both of them with its hands. I struggle to regain control of the Katanas, however, the Kraang doesn't let go. It certainly can fight… and it's not as dumb as the others.

I look up, and I ears pin themselves against my head. "That's impossible-" I'm cut off at the Kraang's foot connects with my jaw in a powerful kick that sends me flying backward.

Almost immediately after I land, I sit up to see the Kraang twirling my swords briefly. "Turtles," It starts, stopping, Katanas pointed forwards, in our direction. "Refrain from attacking." It then twirls my swords again, this time stopping it with the blades pointed away from us- towards the wall.

The Kraang then walks forwards as I stand up, handles towards me, clearly meaning for me to take them back. "Believe me when I tell you I am not your enemy."

I hesitate for a second before taking the swords back and sheathing them.

"You can call me by my birth name, 'Bishop'," 'Bishop' says.

"But you look just like a Kraang!" Casey exclaims, pointing out the obvious.

"I was the one who created this body," Bishop announces. "The other Kraang copied me. I am a member of the Utrom tribe. A small group of Kraang defectors. We broke away from the Kraang hivemind many centuries ago."

We all look down at the alien in the suit, and while it certainly does look exactly like a Kraang, the look it's giving us isn't.

"Fascinating…" Donnie starts. "... it makes sense that the Kraang share a hivemind. A really _stupid_ hive mind!"

"I have broken my Utrom vow not to intervene in Earthly matters," Bishop then says. "But I must warn you… the Triceratons are coming."

"The Triceraton _s_ … as in plural?" I say. "But… we stopped the beacon!"

"No," Bishop says as my tail starts to twitch nervously. "They are coming. And they are carrying enough firepower to destroy the entire solar system."

Mikey gulps behind me. "Can you repeat that last part?" The orange-clad turtle asks.

"The news gets worse," Bishop continues, and I frown. _Well, that's just great._

"The Kraang have finally fixed the Technodrome," Bishop announces, "And are about to invade once more."

"You have any more terrible news, Bishop?" Raph asks. "Or is that it?"

Bishop is repeatedly hitting the bones still in one piece of meat with a knife he'd found in it. "If the Triceratons arrive when the Technodrome rises," he says, "They will hone in on this planet…" He then cleanly slices the piece of meat into three pieces. "... and vaporize it."

"Sorry I asked," Raph says.

"Bishop?" April asks. "Why do the Triceratons hate the Kraang?"

I can't help but nod. It's a good question, and I'm curious too.

"For millennia," Bishop begins, "The two species have fought over Dimension X. They Kraang used their intelligence to battle their foe, along with the strength and power of other species from Dimension X," He glances at me before saying, "Including the dragons that lived there."

I purse my lips as my mind imagines countless dragons who had lived in peace before the war Bishop is describing began, forced into submission, being forced to attack the other alien species. It's a few seconds before I force those images out of my head, but I have missed some more of Bishop's speech- thankfully, not too much.

"... It seemed the Triceratons would win, but the Kraang used the most powerful weapon in the universe; a 'Black Hole Generator', that wiped out the Triceratons entire planet. Only a single Triceraton fleet survived. They vowed vengeance. The battle may have ended, but the _war_ has not. It still rages across Dimension X."

Bishop then takes off the sunglasses on his head. "Now…" He starts. "Shall we begin?"

Soon after, we're walking through the Sewers, although Bishop is now with us. The Utrom is silent as we walk, and the rest of us are as well. It's a relief when we reach the lair.

"We're back, everyone!" Mikey announces loudly. He's about to introduce Bishop when Leatherhead (Who was sitting in the couch pit) notices me. The mutant alligator hasn't yet seen me as a dragon (Or even know about it) so his eyes widen with surprise. "Leonardo?" He asks. "What has happened to you?"

I rub the back of my neck, a little nervous. "I-it's a long story. I'll explain later-"

"He's been a dragon this whole time and never told us," Raph interrupts, deadpan. I groan.

"Aaaanyway," Mikey starts again, "We brought a new pal!" He then steps to the side, letting Bishop walk forwards. He smiles a little.

"Kra…" Leatherhead starts, not being able to finish in shock and anger at the Kraang. "Kra, KRAANG!" He roars, leaping forwards.

We all run to the side. "Woah!" "Wait!" There are multiple cries like that as Leatherhead tries to squash Bishop, but the Utrom dodges.

"I do not want to fight you, creature," Bishop tries, dodging the next few blows Leatherhead throws. The next time Leatherhead tries to get him, Bishop darts in front of the mutant, grabs his arm and throws him over his shoulder. Leatherhead doesn't hesitate to get back up and charge again.

Mikey leaps in front of Leatherhead. "Leatherhead, calm down dude!" He exclaims. The rest of us are pulling or pushing Leatherhead away, trying to keep him away from the Utrom. "It's okay! He's called Bishop! He's a good Kraang! An ulam."

"Utrom," Donnie quickly corrects. "He's not like the others!"

Leatherhead growls but stops trying to attack Bishop. "I do not trust him," Leatherhead says.

"You've gotta trust him for now, LH," Mikey says. "He's totally cool. He's gonna help us fight the Kraang!"

Soon after, we're standing in the lab. There's a blackboard that I've scribbled wave things onto, to represent the sea. There are three pieces of paper with sellotape to attach them to the board- one representing the turtle blimp, one the sub, and one the Technodrome. The last is already on the board, under the 'waves'.

"Alright, here's the plan," I start. "Raph, Donnie, Mikey and Leatherhead, you take the sub." I place the piece of paper representing the sub under the waves as well. "Infiltrate and stop the Technodrome before it launches. And if it does launch," I continue, taking the Technodrome's piece of paper and placing it above the waves, "The rest of us will take it out in the turtle blimp," I finish, sticking the turtle blimp's piece beside the Technodrome's.

"The Technodrome?" Splinter exclaims. "Leonardo, what is going on here?"

"You just have to trust me when I say the whole world is at stake," I tell him, my tail starting to twitch with anticipation and nervousness. "And only we can stop it."

"Go, then," Splinter says. "I will help Slash and Rockwell. If you need me, I will stay close to the Cheese-Phone."

Several minutes later, I'm standing on the Turtle Blimp. Bishop is on my right, while April and Casey are on my left. The latter is sitting on the railing.

"Alright," I say. "Let's hope Raph's team can take down the Technodrome."

"And if they cannot," Bishop continues, "We must stop it. At any cost."

I nod, remembering all the explosives set to blow soon on the bottom of the Blimp. I then jump off the Blimp as it stops, using my wings to fly instead as we all look at the sea below us, prepared for the Technodrome to rise, while seriously hoping that it doesn't.

Our hopes are squashed when we can suddenly see the Technodrome below the water's surface. It becomes clearer and larger with every passing second until the giant thing breaks the water's surface.

"Oh no," April gasps.

"That is so awesome," Casey breathes, looking at is as it rises. The Technodrome is creating a huge blast of air, making everyone's hair (Or in my case, mask tails) fly up. I quickly whip out my T-phone, calling Raph. He answers immediately.

"Raph, you guys have two minutes to blow that thing before we do!" I say.

' _Back off, man! We're heading to the core now!'_ Raph shoots back before hanging up. I slide my T-phone back into my belt, flapping my wings a few more times to stay airborne. I look back at the Technodrome looming just ahead of us, and purse my lips.


End file.
